1 Corinthians 1. And we'll look together here in verse 30. Verse 30. But of him are ye in Christ Jesus,
who of God is made unto us wisdom and righteousness, and sanctification
and redemption. That, according as it is written,
he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. The title of my
message today, Christ is made unto us. Christ is made unto
us. Several places in the scriptures
where it talks about Christ being made. He was made of a woman,
made under the law. He was made to be sin. He was made of the flesh after
the likeness of sinful flesh. But here it talks about why God
made him unto us. Unto us who are believers. Unto
us who are God's elect. Unto us whom Christ died for. There's always a distinction
made in the scriptures between believers and unbelievers. Now
the only way you can become one of us is to trust Christ, to
believe on Christ. There's us and them. That's just
the way God made it to be. He is able to save them, them,
that come unto God by Him, seeing He ever liveth to make intercession
for them. So you want to become one of
them, you trust Christ. You believe on Christ. You come
to Him. Now the ways and the will of
God are mysteries. They're mysteries. Unless He
reveals them to our mind, to our understanding, to us. They're mysteries to us. They're
mysteries to us. Free willism is not a mystery.
That you make the choice. That you do the work. Works for
salvation is not a mystery. Everybody knows that you do good
to them and do good works and be honest and all that, you know,
that you'll be saved by your good works. That's not easy. I mean, that's not hard. That's
the easy thing. Free willism is very easy. Anybody can understand
it. When you get your chance, you
cooperate with God, make your choice, exercise your will, and
you're saved. You're fixed up. But the ways and the will of
God, they're mysteries. The way that He saves a sinner,
the way that He makes a person a sinner, the way that He deals
in a man's heart, bringing him to the understanding of Christ
and bringing him to bow to Christ, these are mysteries. And they
won't be known to a man unless God reveals them to him. Look
what it says here in verse 14 of chapter 2. Verse 14 of chapter
2. But the natural man, the natural
man, that's the unconverted man, that's the man that lives in
this world. The natural man receiveth not
the things of the Spirit of God. They're foolish asunto him. Neither
can he know them because they're spiritually discerned. They're
spiritually taught, spiritually judged. The natural man don't
have a clue what's going on. He don't know he's a sinner.
He don't know nothing about the love of God. He don't know nothing
about Christ doing it all for him. He don't understand why
Christ came into this world and who Christ is. He don't understand
those things. And most of them are not interested
at all. And if they ever have an interest
in it, it's because God caused them to have an interest in it. But, bless His holy name, it
has pleased Him to make Himself known. God makes himself known. It has pleased him to make salvation
known. It has pleased him to make his
wisdom known. It has pleased him to make righteousness
known. It has pleased him to make sanctification
known. It has pleased him to make redemption
known. But the question is this. The
question is, how did he make these things known? Where did he make these things
known? And to whom did he make these things known? Well, I'll
tell you where he makes them known at. In Christ Jesus. Ain't that right? But of him are ye in Christ Jesus. And all spiritual blessings are
in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Everything is in Christ. God will not, old Scott Richardson
has dropped this into people's minds for decades. God will not
speak to nor be spoken to by any member of the human race
apart from Jesus Christ. He won't touch you with a ten
foot pole apart from Jesus Christ. You can't talk to Him and He
won't talk to you except through Jesus Christ. If you want to
know God, you got to know Him in Christ. You want to have your
sins taken care of? They're taken care of by Christ.
You want to know God, have a relationship with God? No man comes unto me,
our Lord said, except my Father. Draw him. And no man can come
unto the Father but by me. I'm the way. And so in Christ
Jesus, it says here in verse 30, but of Him, but of God, are
ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom and righteousness
and sanctification and redemption. You see, it talks about in Christ.
Now this means our union with Christ, our being united to Christ,
our oneness with Christ, being in Christ. And we're in Christ
in three ways. Believers are in Christ three
ways. First of all, they're in Him representatively. I just
read to you Romans 5. brought sin into this world.
By that one sin, death passed upon all of us. Everybody's going
to die because of that one sin of Adam. Just one sin, that transgression,
he did in the garden. But Christ came into this world
to undo the death of Adam. To undo the sin of Adam. And in Christ, we're righteous. In Christ, just as we were in
Adam, we're also in Christ. As in Adam we died, in Christ
we're made alive. In Adam we sinned, in Christ
we're made righteous. In Adam we disobeyed, in Christ
we obeyed. Every God will be in one or the
other. That's why Paul said, I want to win Christ, I want
to be found in Christ. For in him represented as in
Adam, all die, even so in Christ shall all be made righteous.
And that's just, that's the way it is. And you know, people say,
well, I didn't, I wasn't there in the garden. How in the world
can God charge me with Adam's sin? I'll tell you, listen, beloved.
God ain't going to just charge you with his. He's going to charge
you with all the ones you've done. All the ones you've done. What made you to be sinner? What
made you grow up from the day you're born to be a liar? To
be an adulterer? To be covetous? To be an idolater? To be disrespectful to your mother,
your father? To not love God? To not love
your neighbor? What made you grow up that way? Where'd you get that nature at?
Got it from your father? You didn't have to do a thing
in the world to become a sinner. Just be born. And all these fellas go off and
get in these monasteries and they try to get away from the
world, but they still don't get away from sin. I don't care what
you think. And oh, we're in Christ representatively. Thank God that even though I
was lost in Adam, I've been found in Christ. And how'd I get in
Christ? By Him. Are you in Christ Jesus? Secondly, not only are we in
Him representatively, but we're in Him vitally. That means as
the branch, we actually joined to Him, actually united to Him.
As the branches in the vine. You know, our Lord Jesus said,
I'm the vine. You're the branches. Without
Me, you can do nothing. Severed from Christ, we're dead
branches. But beloved, our Lord Jesus Christ,
look over here in Ephesians. I want you to see this. Over
in Ephesians, chapter 5 and verse 30. We're in Him vitally. I mean really, truly joined to
Him. Apart from Him, we have no life.
Our Lord said, without Me, you can do nothing. We live in Him. We live by Him. Here in 1st Ephesians 5, verse
30, look what it says. We're joined to Him vitally.
Just like this arm is mine. I'm vitally joined to Me. You sever this arm from Me and
it's dead. It's lifeless. And that's the
way we are in Christ. Severed from Christ, we're dead,
we're lifeless. But joined to Him, that's where
we get our life. Joined to Him, that's where we
get our burial. Joined to Him, that's where we
get our heartbeat. Our spiritual heartbeat. Ephesians
5.30 For we are members of His body, of His flesh, and of His
bone. Now you can't be no closer than
that, can you? Members of his body, flesh of
his flesh, bone of his bone. And look over here in 1 Corinthians
12 with me, just a minute. Look at this verse of scripture,
talking about being finally joined to Christ. And you don't get
joined to Christ walking in an aisle. You don't get joined to
Christ by making a decision. You don't get joined to Christ
unless God the Holy Spirit unites you to Christ. And we'll talk
about that in a minute. But here in 1 Corinthians 12,
12, look at this. For as the body is one and has
many members, I have one body, but I got lots of members to
this body. And all the members of that one
body, though they be many, There's still one body, so also is Christ. He is one body with many members. And every believer in this church
that's a believer is a member of the body of Christ. Just one
body. Now watch this, for by one spirit
are we all baptized, joined into one body, into Christ. Whether
we be Jews or Gentiles, Bonded free. We've all been to make
drink into one spirit. So we're we're in Christ Representatively,
we're in him vitally We live in him. We're joined to him and
then we're in him consciously consciously by Satan You know
whether you trust Christ or not John wrote it this way says we
know We know that we are in him. We know that we believe him.
I And that's why it says, there's now condemnation to them which
are in Christ Jesus. If any man be in Christ, he's
a new creature. With the heart, man believeth
unto righteousness, and with the mouth, confession is made
unto salvation. When a man trusts Christ consciously,
he's in Christ by faith. Oh my! I mean, we know we're
joined to Him. We know the Spirit Himself bears
witness with our spirit that we're the sons of God, the children
of God. That's where our assurance is
that we have joined to Him by faith. Now, let me tell you this. How
do you get in Christ? How do you get in Christ? By
God. But of Him. Ain't that what it
says? But of Him. Are you in Christ Jesus? Huh? Well, how did you get in Him?
See, God's the first cause of everything. You know I heard a preacher this
morning, he's supposed to be the most popular preacher in the
world, and I don't know how in the world, I just turned on television
and happened to be on that channel. He's supposed to be the most
popular preacher in America right now. Somebody told me that a
few weeks ago, and I didn't know how in the world he can be, I
don't know. But anyway, he says this. He's
talking about God's got this great purpose for your life.
Got all these great things going to happen in your life. But you
got to go and run into them. What if you would not be there
when God got the purpose for you at the same time? Oh, I tell you, God's the first cause
of everything. And we're in Christ by God. And
you know how we got in Christ by God? On purpose. Everything God does, He does
on purpose. There's no accidents with God.
That's why we don't use the word accident. Accident means to us
something happened beyond our... It just happened without any
seemingly good purpose behind it. But there's no accidents,
there's no mistakes, there's no luck, there's no chance, there's
no misfortune. There's God! Just God. Let me show you. I'm going to
show you this. Look back over here in Romans chapter 8. Everything
God does, He does on purpose. Look in Romans chapter 8. You know, we're saved on purpose.
I didn't just happen to bump into God. One day I woke up and
said, oh my! I believe I'll go to church and
start paying attention to the preacher. I believe I need to
make a change. So I'm going to join the church.
I don't want you to know I'm going to start doing the best
I can. I'm going to quit my drinking. I'm going to quit my lying. I'm
going to quit my cussing. I'm going to quit it all. I'm
going to join the church. Now, you may be in the church,
but never be in Christ. And look what it says there in
Romans 8, 28. We're in Christ by purpose, God's
purpose. He's the first cause. And we
know that all things work together for good to them that love God.
To them who are thee called, according to what? His purpose. What was His purpose? To predestinate us, to be conformed
to the image of His Son. To predestinate, his purpose
was to predestinate us to be called, to be justified, to be
glorified. And if God had this purpose for
us, what are we going to say about it? If God be for us, who
can be against us? Now look over in verse 11 of
Romans chapter 9. Talking about Isaac and Rebekah's
two sons. For the children being not yet
born, Jacob and Esau, for the children not yet being born,
neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of
God according to election might stand. What? The purpose of God stand? The
purpose of God can't be thwarted? The purpose of God can't be changed? They said, let's change God's
mind. Let's bombard heaven and let's
change God's mind. Ain't nobody going to change
God's mind. Ain't nobody going to change God's purpose. But
all the purpose of election is going to stand. Jacob I love,
that's God's purpose. Esau hath a hater, that's God's
purpose. So then, it's not of him that
willeth, it's not of him that runneth, but it's of God that
showeth mercy. God, in 2 Timothy 1.9, you don't
have to look at it, but I tell you this is the verse that God
taught me the gospel. Open my heart to see salvations
of the Lord. God who has saved us and called
us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to
His own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus,
when? Before the world ever began. Everything God does, He does
on purpose. That's why we don't run around
scratching our heads, worried to death, biting our fingernails
off to quit, scared to death, what's going to happen tomorrow?
These things about, you know, when I walk inside those gates
of pearl, that makes me want to go! Want to go! No, so we're in Christ by purpose,
and then we've got in Christ by God. He'd been the first caused
by the very power of God. God's got to put you in Christ.
No man can put himself in Christ. Could you give yourself life
when you've gone into this world? It comes from your mother and
father. And if we have the life of God in Christ, God's got to
give us that life. No man can put himself in Christ.
You can't decide yourself into Christ. You can't will yourself
into Christ. You can't work yourself into
Christ. No man can put himself in Christ.
No man can put himself in his body. No man can join himself
to Christ. So if you're in Christ, God's
got to put you in Christ. We were strangers from the commonwealth of Israel,
but He brought us near. We were enemies. He reconciled
us to Himself. He sent the Holy Spirit to make
us conscious of our need. We didn't even know we needed
salvation. Didn't know we were sinners,
unless the Holy Spirit made us to know it. Look over at Colossians
with me, just a moment. Colossians. Over here in Colossians
chapter 2, talking about what God does. Colossians chapter
2, verse 10. You know, that's one of those
mysteries. That's one of those mysteries,
you know. You're sitting there and you're just in a service. You don't know what in the world
is going on. And then there's something that you become aware
that there's something really wrong, something amiss. Then
after a while you begin to realize, I'm lost. I'm lost. That's one of the horriblest
things in the world, to be lost. People die when they get lost.
Physically. People go out and get in the
wilderness and they get lost and they die. They find their
bones. They find their bodies. Well, when you get lost, when
God gets you lost, that's one of the horriblest experiences
you're after and that's a tough experience to go through. Well,
how do you become lost? How do you become a sinner? How
do you become conscious of your need of Christ? Of need of salvation? The Holy Ghost does that. And
look what it says here in Colossians chapter 2 and verse 10. And you are complete in Him which
is the head of all principalities and power. in whom also you are
circumcised. This circumcision is a circumcision
made without hand. It's a circumcision of the heart.
It's a cleansing of the heart. It's a being brought into the
coven without the circumcision like the Jews did with a knife.
And this circumcision is putting off the body of the sins of the
flesh. How? By the cleansing of Christ. Christ circumcised in the heart.
Christ cleansed in the heart. Christ cleansed in the mind.
Now watch this. Buried with him in baptism wherein
also you are risen With him, watch this now, through
the faith of the operation of God. God does all this. God makes you complete in Christ.
God circumcises your flesh. God circumcises your heart. And
it's the faith. This faith is the operation of
God. It's what God does in a man.
And he did it by raising us with Christ. We raised Him from the
dead. Oh, beloved. He brought us out
of darkness and put us into the marvelous light of the kingdom
of His Son. He put us in His building where
Jesus Christ is the chief cornerstone. And last, I want to show you
one other thing in John chapter 1 and verse 12. You know, I quote
these verses all the time, but you need to see them. You need
to see them yourself. We were born We were born of
God, not of the will of the flesh, not of man. Paul said, I am what
I am by the grace of God. He said He has begotten us again,
given us life unto a living hope. Now look there in verse 12, John
chapter 1 verse 12. See, we're in Christ by the power
of God. But as many as received Him,
to them gave He power, To become the sons of God, even to them
that believe on His name. Now wait a minute. That's the
effect. Receiving Him, believing on Him,
becoming the sons of God. That's the effect. Here's the
cause in verse 13. Which we're born. You can't receive
Him until you're born. Not of blood, that means that
we didn't pass it from one generation to another. Nor of the will of
the flesh. Your flesh cannot will you to
be in Christ. Will to give you life. Will to
believe on Christ. Nor of the will of man. I can
will all I want to. Anybody else can't. But which
were born of God. That's why you receive Him. That's
how you become a son of God. You born of God. And oh beloved,
our saving union with Christ, our conversion with Christ, our
conversion to Christ was not of ourselves, but of God. But of Him are you in Christ
Jesus. Alright, back over in our text.
And it says there, but of Him are you in Christ Jesus, who
of God is made unto us. Of God are you in Christ Jesus.
And being in Christ, you know what that tells us? That you're
of God. Think that's what it says? We're
of God. We're of God. We're called God's
people. He was stricken for the transgressions
of who? Thy people. We're called God's children.
Little children. All thy children. Look in Isaiah
54.13. I quote this all the time, but
you need to look at it for yourself, Isaiah 54, 13. We're called God's children.
I had a man tell me one time, he said, you all act like you're
the only ones that's God's children. You always talk about God's people
and God's children. I said, that's what God calls
them. For the transgression of my people was he stricken. We're
called sons of God, children of God, heirs of the promise. Huh? Look what it says in Isaiah
54, 13. And all thy children, whose children? God's children. All thy children
shall be taught of the Lord. And when we teach it is something
worth what it says. And great shall be the peace
of thy children. It is, ain't it? It's a great thing. We're called
God's children. Called God's beloved. Oh, beloved
of God. That's what he calls us in Romans.
And you know, he says, we are of God, little children. And
the whole world lies in wickedness. Now, that makes a distinction.
We are of God. First John 5, 19, we are of God,
and the whole world lies in wickedness. Those that are of God, do not
of the world, do not of the wicked. We are of God. The scriptures
tells us that we are not of the earth, like Adam anymore, not
of Satan, not of the bondage of the law, but of God, are you
in Christ Jesus. To be of God, For Him to look
on us as His, say they're mine? I claim them as mine? Huh? To be loved of Him? To be chosen of Him? To be eternally
loved of Him? For Him to have His glory revealed
in us? Huh? You know what the last Old
Testament book is? Malachi. Malachi chapter 3. And it says this about Him. And
God says in Malachi 3.17, and they shall be mine, saith the
Lord of Hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels. They shall be mine. He says they're
mine. Oh, where is Jules? Where is
the apple of his eyes? Where is peculiar treasure? To
thank the infinite. To thank the invisible. To thank
the Eternal claims us to be so, and says, I'm not ashamed, not
ashamed to be called their God. Oh, beloved, the believer's life,
it is of God. It is of God. It comes from Him. It's sustained
by Him. And without Him, we don't have
it. Of Him are you in Christ Jesus? And then it says, But
of Him are you in Christ Jesus? If you're not in Christ, then
no life. No life without Christ. Apart
from Him, nothing but death, lifeless, withered, branches,
useless. Our life exists and consists
by our union with Him. But of Him are you in Christ
Jesus? And it's the work of God. It's
God's work that puts us in Christ. Has He done this for you? Has
He put you in Christ? Are you in Christ and is Christ
in you? Has God done this work for you?
Has God put you in Christ? Has God gave you faith to trust
Christ? Are you joined to Christ? Do
you enjoy Christ? Do you enjoy hearing about Him?
Do you want Him? Do you desire Him? Do you want to converse with
Him? Do you want your sins and have that consciousness that
your sins are gone? And oh, let me give you some
things here. What He made Christ unto us. Look what it says here
now in verse 30 of our text. But of Him, of God, in Christ
by God's purpose and power. God made Christ unto us. He regarded
Christ, legally constituted Christ, and regards Christ unto us and
us unto him as this, to make Christ unto us wisdom. Wisdom. What does this mean? Well, it's
not the wisdom of this world. It's not the wisdom of this world
that he's talking about. Paul says, I come to preach the
gospel, not with the wisdom of man's word, lest the cross of
Christ should be made of none effect. God said He would bring
the understanding of the wise and the prudent to nothing. To
nothing. It's not the wisdom of this world
that what it says there in verse 20 of chapter 1. Where is the
wise man? Where is that wise man that can
devise a way of saving a sinner and be just? Where is that scribe? Where is the disputer of this
world? They would stand up and argue with God and say, I don't
like the way you do things. Has not God made foolish the
wisdom of this world? The wisdom of this world is to fight. The wisdom of this
world is natural in this sense that If I do good, I'll get good. If I do bad, I'll get bad. If God's got to save me, if there
is a God, He'll have to save me. I've been a good person all
my life. Some people stole a bunch of
stuff off us here a few years or so ago. And somebody told
us later, says, you know, they're really good people that, you
know, they're not all that bad. They're they're really good people.
You have good people just walk in your house and start packing
stuff off by the truckloads. And I've never got a bad guy
called. But that's what people think, they think. And now the
thing is, instead of praying, you know, we just have a good
thought for somebody. I don't know why he wants to talk about
sin. None of us are sinners. We're good people. We're doing
the best we can. You know, I'm not perfect, but I'm
okay. That's the wisdom of this world. After that, in the wisdom of
God, by His own wisdom, the world by wisdom, didn't know God. They
got there on Mars here, all them philosophers, and they discussed
the meaning of life, where the universe comes from. They discussed
whether this flesh is material, or whether we have a spirit,
whether we have a soul, whether God created the world, or whether
He didn't. How the stars get up there, who named them. They
just debate all this stuff, and they've been doing this for centuries
and centuries. And God says that's absolutely
true. I'm going to make that world foolish. And so it pleased
God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. So
you see Christ is made under us wisdom. Not the wisdom of
this world. He's the wisdom of God first of all in his own person.
Everything that God done, He done by Christ. The very wisdom
of God is seen in Christ. The wisdom that He created the
world, the wisdom by which He upholds the world, the wisdom
by which He sustains the world, the wisdom by which He is going
to destroy the world, the wisdom by which everything that God
is, Christ is. He's the very wisdom of God Himself
in everything that's done. The fullness of the Godhead dwells
in him bodily. And this is the thing that he's
really made unto us. And we see him as the wisdom
of God. But here is the wisdom of God. He is the wisdom of God
made unto us. The wisdom of God in salvation.
Oh my, how can... Here's the thing. How can God
take people like us? People like us. Plus people like
us sinners. Sinners by birth, sinners by
nature, sinners by practice, sinners by choice. How can God
take sinners like us and save us from our sin? Save us from the power of sin. Make us holy. When it says that He's too holy
to look on sin, that He will by no means clear the guilt in
the soul that sinneth that must die. So how can we die? How can we be cleared of our
guilt? And how can we be made holy?
That's why Paul said, we preach Christ crucified. Oh my! We know who He is. God cannot die. But only God can satisfy God. Man can die, but man can't satisfy
God. So God and man became one in
the person of Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory. Oh my! Now, to God man can die. And as God, he can satisfy God. As man, without sin, he can die. and satisfy God. We preach who
He is. Crucified. Why was He crucified? So that God can be just. And oh my! When I think that
God not sparing, sent His Son, my bird, gladly bearing, where
He bled and died, Bearing my sin, I stressed and take it in. Oh,
how great Thou art! How great Thou art! So see God. This is why Christ is the wisdom
of God. My sin was charged to Him. So God didn't
clear me of my guilt. He made Christ guilty. God didn't let me get by without
being punished for my sin. Christ was punished for my sin.
That's what the crucifixion was about. That's what His death
on the cross was about. That's what His blood was shed
about. Where God finds sin, He's got to punish it. Where there's
guilt, God's got to condemn it. And Christ was made sin for us. who knew no sin, now watch it,
that the very righteousness of Christ was put to our account,
and we are made the righteousness of God. Where at? In Him. You see, beloved, all true saving
knowledge, all true knowledge of God is known in Christ. And oh, look over here in Romans
with me just a moment. I don't want to wear you. Don't
want to wear you. So we need to see these things,
we need to understand these things. You know, and people keep going
over the fundamentals of fundamentals of fundamentals. Christ crucified, that's the
starting place. Stay there. And oh my, why was
he crucified? To justify. Watch this, Romans 4.25, talking
about Christ, our Lord Jesus, who was delivered for our offenses.
Who delivered Him? God did. God spared not His own
son. He delivered Him for our offenses,
for all of our offenses, all of our sin. Watch this, and He
was raised again for our justification. What does that mean? That means
when the law comes to condemn me, I say, there's my justification
that I obeyed you. When I say that I'm without sin,
well, the devil comes and says, well, you know that's a lie.
I say, there's my justification sitting at the right hand of
God. My sins, he's already bought. And God raised you from the dead
because He's satisfied with you. And there He says it, God's right
here. My justification to be accepted of God, to call on God,
to have confidence before God, there He says it, God's right
here. My justification that I'm going to be saved eternally,
there He says it, God's right here. That's my justification.
Who is He? Not a person, not a thing, a
person, the Lord Jesus Christ. And oh my, look in Romans 5,
8 here now. I love this, but God commendeth
His love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, what happened? Christ died for us. For who? For sinners. Much more than, since He died
for us as sinners, God commendeth His love, much more than being
now, being now justified. How? By His blood, by His death. What's this now? We shall be
saved from wrath. How? Through Him? No, listen. For if when we were enemies,
and we were, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son,
much more being reconciled than enmity being slain, we shall
be saved. How? By His life. He lives. And because He lives, we live
also. And not only so do we have life
through Him, not only were we reconciled, not only were we
saved from wrath, not only are we now justified, but we have
great joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, for whom now
we receive, what? The atonement. The atonement.
All being joined to Him, we see the very wisdom of God itself.
The princes of this world didn't know this back over in our text.
They didn't know the wisdom of God because they didn't. You
know what they did? They crucified Christ. Alright, then it says, you'll
not only see made unto us wisdom, but righteousness and sanctification.
Now, righteousness and sanctification always go together. Always go
together. If you're righteous, you're set
apart. If you're set apart, you're made righteous. And God, these
always go together. And I can show you that in 1
Corinthians 6.11. You cannot be righteous without
being holy, and you can't be holy without being righteous.
And that's what sanctification means, your holiness. Let me
tell you this, and some folks I talked to, I preached this
a little last week, Can God be any more holy than
He is? Can Christ be any more? See,
holiness is a state of being. You cannot be holier at one time
than another. Now, preachers preach that. They
preach it, you know, you can get holier and holier and holier.
But you can't. Holiness is a state of being.
Sanctification is a state of being. Now, you can grow in grace.
God's going to wean you off of this world. He's going to chastise
you. He's going to take you and make
you dislike this world until you get ready to go with Him.
But you're never going to end Christ. You're as old as you're
ever going to be. And in Christ you cannot be more righteous
at one time than you can another. Can God be more righteous at
one time than another? No, because it's a state of being
also. He's the REA. Look here in 1 Corinthians 6.11,
And such were some of you, but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified,
but ye are justified, that word justified is the same word as
righteous, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the
Spirit of our God. You see, righteousness and sanctification
always go together. Righteousness satisfies the law's
demands for our justification. The law has nothing against us.
There is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ. Christ
is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believes. Sanctification
and holiness, that tells us that Christ satisfies the law as a
rule of duty. as a rule of living. People say,
well, the law is a rule of life for the believer. Abraham, he
believed God. Didn't say anything about him
obeying the law as a rule of life. But sanctification and
holiness satisfies the law as do and live. For Christ is righteousness
and sanctification, both of them to us. He's our righteousness. Because of His obedience and
His death, He's fully satisfied divine justice. Everything that God required
of us, Christ gave it. The soul of God's justice cried
out for our death and our punishment. Christ gave Him death. Christ
rendered punishment. Christ has made sin for us. And
when we stand before God, Christ will answer for us. His infinite
merit will present us before God and us in Him. And this is
the reason why we'll be justified before God in His judgment. Because
of what He did and who He is. I'll never stand in God's presence
in myself. I'll have to stand just where
I stand right now, in Christ. And He's also our sanctification.
His Spirit dwells in us. If any man hath not the Spirit
of Christ, he is none of his. God sent forth the Spirit of
His Son into our hearts. And then let me give you this
quickly. Back over here in 1 Corinthians
1.30. But of Him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto
us wisdom and righteousness, sanctification and redemption. Redemption. Redemption means deliverance,
salvation from all evil, all evil. Christ, our Redeemer, delivered
us from every evil that could possibly be against us. The evil
of sin, He saved us from sin, in whom we have redemption through
His blood, even the forgiveness of sins. He saved us from guilt.
I don't feel guilty before God. That's why we come confidently
to Him. I don't feel my guilt before God anymore. I don't feel
guilt over sin. He saved us from our guilt. He
saved us from hell. He saved us from the power of
the enemy. He saved us from the great power
and fear of death and the grave. Oh death, where is your sting?
Oh grave, where is your victory? And He saved us from all iniquity,
redeemed us from all iniquity. He redeemed us from the curse
of the law. He's our redemption. And you
know how long this redemption is? It's called an eternal redemption. He entered once into the holy
place with His own blood and obtained eternal redemption for
us. And just as God redeemed Israel
by blood and power, put the blood over the door of the Lamb, and
then brought them out with great power and destroyed Pharaoh's
army behind them, took them through the Red Sea. Well, that's how
God redeemed us, through the blood of Christ and brings us
out by His power. So that's going to be a day of,
oh, redemption draweth nigh. Lift up your head, your redemption
draweth nigh. Your final, complete salvation
when you leave this world. And oh, that day of redemption
that draweth nigh is the day when our Lord Jesus Christ and
the work that He did on our behalf, the work He did for us and the
work He did shall be consummated. Finished over and done. The perfect
salvation of his people. He bought the soul and he bought
the body. And he'd go give us a new body.
And you know what? One old fella said then, he said,
that's when we'll be plumb saved. Plumb saved. Plumb saved. And you know why he done it this
way? Because it says here in verse 31, But of him are ye in
Christ Jesus, who love God, is made unto us wisdom, sanctification,
righteousness, and redemption. And here's the reason, that as
according as it is written, he that glorieth, let him glorieth
who? The Lord. King both did he works,
God put you in Christ. Can't boast in what you know.
Christ is your wisdom. Can't boast in your holiness.
Christ is your righteousness. Can't boast in your progressive
sanctification in this world. Christ is your... And you can't
boast as you're keeping yourself from sin. Christ saved you from
it. He's your redemption. What are
you going to glory in? I'm going to glory in the Lord.
Alright? Our Father, Our gracious, eternal
God, blessed be your name for allowing us this wonderful privilege
to gather with your people to be able to talk about our Lord
Jesus Christ and His salvation, perfect, full, complete, and
free. Bless this word to the hearts,
the minds, the understanding of souls here today. Oh, Holy Spirit, take the things
of Christ. Father, I cannot put anything
in a man's mind, anything in a man's heart. All I do is just
have words to say that, oh, Holy Spirit, you've got the power.
Oh, God, you've got the power. So make it effectual. Make it
real. Make it alive. Make it vital
to the heart and the soul. We ask these things in Christ's
name. Amen. We all know that